Allosaurus
Allosaurus is the top predator of the Jurassic period. The largest specimens grew to 13 meters (43 feet) long, making it one of the biggest Jurassic predator on the landscape, almost as big as Tyrannosaurus Rex of the later Cretaceous period, but with a more lightweight build and a relatively weaker bite (even than a lion), designed to rip flesh rather than to crush bone. An individual named Big Al was just a sub-adult when it died, yet it had 19 injuries and signs of various diseases. Allosaurus had distinctive crests in front of his eyes for display. They were probably pack hunters and used their numbers to catch larger animals such as Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. Proof of this was shown in the Cleveland Lloyd-Quarry with 75% of the bones belonged to Allosaurus. Though, not everyone agrees and think that like modern reptiles, it showed aggression to each other. Facts The name Allosaurus (al-o-soar-us) meant "different lizard" and was considered one of the largest predators in the Late Jurassic Era, 165,000,000-145,000,000 years ago. The huge Kings of the Jurassic Era, these giant, 8-13 meter long, carnivorous dinosaurs were the lions of the Jurassic, the top predators of their age. At 3-5 tons, they were such massive predators and as quick and as agile as their little ancestors Coelophysis and Liliensternus. Allosaurus had to eat their own weight in food every month. Allosaurus was mostly found in many parts of North America including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Dakota, Texas, and other parts of the U.S, but also Allosaurus ranged into parts of Africa such Tanzania etc, and also Australia has a smaller, dwarf-species version. In seven short years, an adult individual of Allosaurus measured 4-5 m tall, was over 10-12 m long and weighed up 3-5 tonnes in weight. Moreover, the body of this dinosaur was agile and flexible enough for them to be the most successful, best-adapted predators of its time. One basic features of Allosaurus was its teeth, which were sharp- long and serrated, and built more like knives to tear and slice up flesh from the bodies of its victims. It's claws were long and sharp, helping not only leave scars but also its arms were opposal, and it can actually cling on to it's victims. It's feet were designed for speed enabling 25km/ph and were fast enough to help it run long distances, and can leap and jump short-distances when close-contact with its prey. Also it had 3 clawed hands and could use them to slice open flesh. It's tail was long and strong enough to keep balance while running, and could use it to change directions quickly. For female allosaurs, when they are mothers, smell was important and from the moment mother and hatchling smelled each other, they formed a bond that is crucial to the hatchlings early survival. And in seven short years, the hatchlings would have become gigantic predators like their mother. When they were hatchlings, they had to learn very fast, within two weeks, to stand on their own two feet and to protect themselves. And fighting amongst themselves was a good way to start. They could also hunt for and eat insects. As young allosaurs reached their second year of life, they grew to measure almost three-meters and insects would no longer be on the menu. They’d be looking for dinosaur flesh. By the time a young Allosaurus ''was five years old, although they’d reach nine meters long, they would be nearly fully grown. As the young allosaurs grew into the age of six years old, as a sign of age, the crests over their eyes would now be reddening. Sexual maturity was dependent on an Allosaurus' size and and at 10 meters long, Allosaurs were well on the way to be big enough, but by that time, they were more like mature adolescents. When allosaurs reached at least 13 meters long, they could quickly establish their dominance over predatory dinosaurs, especially other allosaurs. When predators get to the size of a fully grown ''Allosaurus, about 13 m, most of those predators rarely have to bring down their own food. They just scavenge other kills. Allosaurs have been theorized to have hunted in packs with or without family units but only when hunting giant prey such as sauropods and stegosaurids. Allosaurus ''lived alongside other large carnivorous dinosaurs such as ''Saurophaganax, Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus, though Allosaurus ''wouldn't be in direct competition with the other theropds. Paleontologists have always been puzzled why so many predators could fit in a single ecosystem, though like modern ecosytems there are such things as niche partitioning, where different carnivores hunt different prey and try to keep out of each other's way whenever possible. In Walking With... series Most ''Allosaurus ''bones and skeletons found, were covered in injuries, possibly from battles with other dangerous prey and from even its own species i.e. a sub-adult "Big Al" was found with about 17-19 injuries including a swollen, infected, toe-bone, broken-healed arm, neck injuries and even infected rib bones. Thus, it became the main antagonist of Time of the Titans and the protagonist of the Ballad of Big Al. (Later on, footage from '''Ballad of Big Al' would be used in the conclusion of the Walking with Monsters series, where an Euparkeria was shown 'evolving' into an Allosaurus that went on to stalk a herd of stegosaurs.) (A cousin of Allosaurus, known as 'Polar Allosaur' or Australovenator ''was shown in '''Walking With Dinosaurs' ep. 5, based on the same basic model as Allosaurus ''itself.) Known Individuals *Big Al Appearances In Other Media 'Horizon' In the episode "Extreme Dinosaurs", the model for ''Allosaurus was recolored with a shade of green and used for Mapusaurus. Merchandise A toy of Allosaurus was made by Toyway for their Walking with Dinosaurs line. Appearances *Walking with Dinosaurs **Time of the Titans *Ballad of Big Al *Walking with Monsters **Clash of Titans Trivia *''Allosaurus'' has had seven different variants over the course of the series, more then every animal ever featured. 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